School Daze
by alynwa
Summary: Napoleon and Illya discuss Leona's educational future.  The boys belong to whoever they belong to; original characters are mine. A "Sugar and Spies" story.


School Daze

Illya and Napoleon walked through the door held open by Jimmy the doorman into the lobby of their apartment building. They had flown in from Europe after completing a mission that was supposed to be smooth sailing that was anything but. After two days of recuperating in the Budapest Medical Unit, they headed home to New York City on a flight that inclement weather had delayed for three hours. They had gone directly to HQ to file their reports and then caught a cab home.

The Russian rang for the elevator while the American gathered up the mail Jimmy had been collecting for them while they had been out of town. They entered the elevator and Illya placed and turned his key in the lock that allows access to the penthouse floor while Napoleon perused the mail and separated it into his and Illya's.

Illya leaned against the elevator's side and sighed, "It's too bad the weather delayed our flight; I was really looking forward to seeing Leona tonight."

"I know, Tovarisch," Napoleon commiserated, "I was too, but, it's after 10 o'clock, even if Rosie and Lamont were awake, the girls must be asleep. Look on the bright side: Tomorrow is Sunday; we can take her to the zoo or something." He held up four envelopes for his partner to see. "We can talk about this for awhile, if you're not too tired. These are brochures for schools."

Illya stared at his partner's hand and exclaimed, "_Brochures for schools? _When did you send for those?"

"After we got to the Budapest office. I contacted Lisa Rogers and asked her to request the schools mail them to me. I thought about it while we were waiting for our backup to arrive."

The Russian's eyes widened in surprise. "Napoleon, we were waiting to be rescued! _We were hanging upside down!"_

The taller man shrugged. "I had to do _something_ to occupy my mind. So, I thought about Leona Nicole's education."

Illya rolled his eyes and unlocked the front door and reset the alarms while Napoleon dropped the mail on the kitchen counter, placed the Russian's bag in his room and continued on to his bedroom.

He changed into a pair of sweatpants and a T- shirt. When he came back into the kitchen, Illya had not only changed into pajamas, he had gotten a bottle of Scotch from the bar in the living room and his vodka from the freezer and was just reaching for the glasses. They each poured their preferred liquid into a glass, clinked the glasses together and sipped.

Illya sighed contentedly as the vodka warmed his stomach and asked, "Now, what about schools?"

As he opened each envelope, Napoleon replied, "Leona is four and we have to start thinking about where she is going to go to school." He pushed the brochures toward his partner. "These are for the Brearley, Hewitt and Spence schools here in Manhattan. They all go from kindergarten through twelfth grade. I also sent for a brochure from the Hackley School which is a boarding school in Tarrytown."

Illya read each brochure as he drank his vodka and his partner watched him. He piled them on top of each other and pushed them to the side. "Napoleon, she cannot attend any of these schools."

"Why not? These schools are excellent! Leona is a very bright, precocious child with a working knowledge of English, French, Italian, Russian and Korean. These schools would challenge her and, she would be making friends with the children of the city's movers and shakers. What's wrong with that?"

Illya ran his hand through his hair and leaned back on his stool. "I cannot afford to pay those tuitions, they're astronomical! I am sure the local public schools will be fine."

Napoleon snorted in derision, "I don't think so! I myself am a product of private school education and you! You, moi droog, had the best education Mother Russia could buy; a world class elementary and high school education befitting a budding KGB agent plus degrees from Cambridge and the Sorbonne! You think you went to those schools for _free?"_

Illya stared at Napoleon for a moment and then nodded his head and grimaced. "This will sound utterly ridiculous but, at the time, I never thought about the cost of my education. I was told I would be attending those universities so; I did as I was told. I didn't fill out any applications or financial aid forms or buy my books; everything was handled by the KGB. I received a very small monthly stipend that barely allowed me to eat. I could never have afforded to pay for my education and I certainly cannot afford to pay for Leona to go to any of these…" He waved his hand over the pamphlets. "These bastions of capitalist indoctrination!" he finished in frustration.

"Illya, Partner Mine, we are in this thing together. I had a topnotch education as did you and as will Leona Nicole. I will pay her tuition…"

"_Nyet!"_

Napoleon was shocked. "What do you mean no?"

Illya stood up and began to pace across the kitchen floor. "I cannot accept that from you, Napoleon. Leona and I moved in with you, you bought the penthouse next door and paid to have the wall torn down; I cannot ask you to do this."

"Number one, you did not ask me. Number two, you don't live here for free; you pay your share of the mortgage and the bills. Number three, are you saying that Leona has to go to public school because you don't have the money to pay for private? Because, if that's true, that ah, doesn't make any sense to me."

The Russian scowled and retorted, "No, Napoleon, of course it does not make sense to you! You have never wanted for anything, you were always provided for, no one ever let you down! I will not let that happen to my daughter!" He turned and stalked out of the kitchen.

Napoleon decided the best course of action was to let Illya stew in his own juices for a few minutes and then talk to him again. If this discussion were about anything other than Leona, he would let the matter drop but, this was important. _I better go in there bearing gifts, _he thought. He made two roast beef sandwiches and placed them on a plate. He took a tray out of a cupboard, placed the plate, napkins, their glasses and both bottles on it and went into the living room.

Illya was sitting on the couch staring into the empty fireplace. Napoleon set the tray on the coffee table and motioned for his partner to help himself. After a moment's hesitation, the blond picked up a sandwich, said, "Spacibo," and began to eat. He made short work of the sandwich then turned his attention back to the fireplace while he poured himself another glass of vodka and sipped slowly.

Napoleon sat in the recliner and waited; when it seemed like Illya wasn't going to say anything, he leaned forward and said, "May I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you still, ah, do you still consider me Leona's other parent?"

Illya spun around to face Napoleon. "Of course I do!"

_That's one less fight I have to have, then, _he thought. Aloud, he said, "Good. Then you must realize that it is my _job,_ as it is yours, to take care of Leona and provide for her. It is not something you need to ask me to do. There will be times when we provide for her together and times when one of us provides for her what the other one cannot. I can provide her with a private school education. What is the big deal?" Illya shifted uneasily on the couch and looked down at his lap. Seeing his partner's agitation, Napoleon repeated softly, "What's the big deal, Illya?"

The Russian walked to the fireplace and leaned against it facing Napoleon. "What if you die? What if you _die, _Napoleon? Not only would Leona have to deal with losing her Daddy, she would have her world turned further upside down when I pull her out of whatever fancy school you enrolled her into. I would not be able to pay for her to complete a private school education plus, pay for college. I will have failed her, Napoleon! We both will have failed her!"

"Illya, sit down. Please." Napoleon watched as Illya returned to the couch and sat. "Listen to me. I would never leave you in that position. Never. Once Leona is accepted into a school, I will set up an interest bearing account and place enough money into it to cover her tuition through the twelfth grade. Illya, I don't mention it very often but, I am rather wealthy. I had money before Aunt Amy left me her estate. As for Leona's college education, I am convinced that Miss Leona Nicole Hyun Reilly will qualify for a scholarship somewhere. She _is _our daughter, after all. And besides, you're not even taking into account all my unpaid vacation and sick leave, life insurance policy, my last paycheck…"

"Stop, Napoleon! Do not joke about that! It is bad luck!"

"Seriously, Tovarisch, do not worry. Leona will never go without. We won't let her. If the worst happens, and we both are killed, Rosie and Lamont will make sure she has a good life. I will add a codicil to my will that Leona must continue to attend a non-sectarian school as per your wishes since Paige attends a Catholic school. Are you feeling any better about this, Partner Mine?"

Illya smiled shyly, "Some. I had hoped at one time to have her attend the United Nations International School but, again the cost was prohibitive. But, if you are willing to pay, would you have an issue with that school?"

Napoleon smiled back, "No, Partner Mine, if that's what you want, that is where she will go. It is a highly respected school. Well, I think we have reached a decision." He held up his glass in salute.

The Russian stood and stretched. "I do not wish to have this be our last conversation of the night," he said, "Let's talk about tomorrow. I say we pick up Leona early so we can come back here for breakfast or brunch, maybe, and then go to Central Park to the zoo."

Napoleon decided to eat the remaining sandwich and picked it up. "Wildlife _again_? I have a better idea. After breakfast, why don't we take the Circle Line three hour sail around Manhattan? We can relax and have the island move past us. That should entertain a four year old. At least, I hope so."

Illya looked out from under his blond bangs and grinned. "Are you paying for it?"

Napoleon nodded. "Yes."

The Russian picked up the tray and proceeded to the kitchen. "Then, it sounds like a plan. Goodnight, Napoleon."


End file.
